NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE. Pil 
MIGRATION. 
I have nothing fresh to add to the section dealing with 
66 
migration, but the following recoveries of ringed °’ 
Birds. in Dumfriesshire may be of interest. This system of 
‘“ringing ’’ promises to be most valuable as helping to solve 
the riddle of migration, but, when it is remembered that the 
present total of available statistics is considered as quite 
insufficient to form any conclusion, it is obvious that the 
records in any one county, such as ours, can in themselves 
only be regarded as interesting occurrences. I should be 
glad if this scheme could be helped by workers locally, for 
the more birds that are ringed the more are likely to be re- 
covered. The fact that a ringed bird may be reported within 
a year, near the place of marking, is in itself interesting, 
though it is doubtless more exciting to hear of its re-capture 
a long distance off. If recovered some subsequent year near 
_ the same place it may be that the bird has migrated and has 
returned to its old haunt; surely an interesting record: if its 
recovery is delayed for some years it gives us some definite 
evidence as to another question—the longevity of wild birds 
—a problem which is, as yet, quite undecided. 
Recoveries of Birds ringed in Dumfriesshire and subse- 
quently re-captured: and of Birds ringed outside the county 
and re-captured therein :— 
